George ballett fletcher



m. 652,236. Patented June. 19', I900. 6. B. FLETCHER.

SPRING WHEEL Fun Vemcus.

(Applieg tion 11106. Feb. 5, 1900.)

(In Idol.)

To all whom. it may concern;

UNITED STATEs PATENT OF ICE.

-s-P RING -WH an FOR VEHICLES.

SPEGIFIOATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 652,236, dated June 19,1900.

Application filed February 5,1900. Serial No. 4,064; (No model.)

Be it known that 1, GEORGE BAilLETr FLETCHER, a subject of the Queen ofGreat Britain, residing at No. 12 Great'St. Helens,

-in the city of London, England, have invented newand usefulImprovements in Spring- Wheels for Velocipedes, Carriageaand otherVehicles, of which the following is a specification. l

My invention relates to wheelsof the kind wherein the hub or boss iscapable of slight movement relatively with'the" tire orfelly, theobjects of my invention being to simplify the construction and increasethe efficiency of this class of wheell According to my invention thespokes are of spring metal and bent to a semicircular or O shape, sothat as each spoke comes beneath the hub the weight upon the same willhave a tendency to increase the curvature of such spring-spoke, and atthe same time the tension upon the diametrically-opposite spoke abovethe hub will tend to straighten such spoke.

In order to give lateral rigidity to the wheel, I prefer that thespokes'should be attached. to two flanges upon the hub and that thespokes attached to one flange should be curved in an opposite directionto those attached to the other flange.

Any suitable means may be provided for uniting the spokes to the hub andrim. In practice, however, I find it advantageous in the case of the hubto provide dovetailed sockets, into which the ends of the said spokescan be introduced, the flanges of the hub be ing made with detachableside] plates, the removal of which permits the ready introduction andremoval of the spokes into and from the said sockets in a lateraldirection.

To enable the invention to be fully understood, I will describe it byreference to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a sideelevation of a portion of a spring-Wheel constructed according to theinvention. Fig. 2 is a sectional end elevation of the hub. vFig. 3 'is avertical section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is an elevation of aportion of the rim and tire, showing'the method of securing the spokesto the rim.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5,'Fig. 4:. Fig.

6 is a side elevation of a portion of the rim,

showing the socket arrangement for the spoke. Fig; 7 is a transversesection showing the socket in end elevation. Fig. 8 is an elevation ofthe rim end of the spoke. Fig. 9 isa plan thereof. Fig. 10 is a viewsimilar to Fig. '4,'showing a modified form of spoke connection. Fig. 11is a transverse section on the line 11 11, Fig. 10. Fig. 12 is an underside view of the rim shown in Fig. 10; and Figs. 13, 14, and 15 are aside elevation, an end view, and a plan of the modified construction ofspoke end. Figs; 2 and 3,are drawn to a larger scale than Fig.1 and.Figs 4 to 15 to a larger scale than Figs. 2 and 3.. V

. a is the tire of lthelwli'eehb the'rimthereof,

andcthehub.

d d are my spring-spokes, which, as clearly shown in Fig. 1," are benttoa semicircular or C shape and aresecured at their two ends to theinside oftherim b and tolateral flanges etc upon the hub c, the spokessecured to one flange being curved in the opposite direction to thoseupon the other flange, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

As above mentioned, any suitable means be-employed for securing the endsof the spokes ol to the flanges c of the hub 0.

Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of the" drawings show a suitable mode of detachablysecuring the spokes to the said hub-flanges c'--that is to say, thespokes d d are formed with flat wedgeshaped or dovetailed inner ends d,the said ends being adapted to take into similarlymay shaped recesses 6,formed in the flanges c.

onjthe'hub c, the said wedge-shaped spoke endsd being retained inposition in these recesses e by the retaining-plates f f, which aresecured to the flanges c by suitable means, such as by the bolts andnuts f f.

A suitable mode of securing the spokes to the rim is illustrated inFigs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,

and 9. In this arrangement socket-pieces are riveted or otherwisesuitably secured to the inner periphery of the rim 5, the saidsocketpieces consisting of the curved plates g g, upon the under side ofeach of which ,is formed or secured a tubular socket g, one end of whichis fully opened, while the other end is partially closed, leaving anelongated or flattened opening or slot 9 The spoke end is made with acylindrical portion '72. of a size to fit the tubular socket g and uponthe the spoke, bear against one end of thehole j, i

by twisting the spoke ct at right angles to its; normal position thesaid heads can groove or recess ct to receive the said transf 2 easiestend of this cylindrical portion 7?. there is formed a flat Thead c,having a neck 6', the tongue being of such a thickness that it can justpass through the flattened slot or opening g in the end of the socket g,and the length of the neck being about equal to the, thickness of themetal partially closing the end of the said socket. With thisarrangement by turning the spoke cl so that the T-- head 2' is in thesame plane as the slot g the said head can be passed through the slotand the spoke turned into the position indicated I in Figs. 1, 4, and 5,the neck 1. then holding? the spoke securely in the socket g.

In the arrangement illustrated in Figs. 10 to 15 the socket-pieces aredispensed with and in lieu thereof holes 3' are formed in the rim. Theends of the spokes in this case are made similarly to those abovedescribed, with; the exception that the cylindrical portions h are doneaway with. The width of the head i is about equal to that of the holesj, sothat be passedi into the holes. By then turningthespoke into 1 itsnormal position the head z' securely holds: it in the rim 1).Projections it, formed upon while the head 2' bears against the other,endl thereof, thus preventing the head moving in; the hole. WVith thisconstruction the tire a must be formed with an inner peripheral;

verse heads. Having now particularly described and as; certained thenature of mysaid invention and i one of the in what manner the same isto be performed, I declare that what I claim is- 1. In a spring-wheel,the combination with slotted portions, of a dovetailed recesses and 2.In a spring-wheel, the combination with the rim provided with slottedportions, of a hub having its lateral facesprovided with dovetailedrecesses, semicircular spokes each provided at one end with a T-headengaging said slotted portions of the rim, and provided at its other endwith adovetailed portion engaging one of the dovetailed recesses in saidhub, and retaining-plates secured to the lateral faces of said hub, forretaining the spokes in said recesses, substantially as described.

3. In a spring-Wheel, the combination with the rim, of slotted socketssecured to said rim, a hub provided with dovetailed recesses,semicircular spokes having T-shaped heads at one end adapted to engagesaid slotted sockets and provided at the other end with dovetaileddovetailed as described.

portions adapted to engage said recesses insa'id hub,suhstantiall yGEORGE BA-LLETT FLETCHER. Witnesses:

0. G. REDFERN,

F. W. PRICE.

